Indigenizing Wellbeing Research Circle

The IWRC will bring together Indigenous and non-Indigenous ISBNPA members to advance two
focus areas of behavioral nutrition and physical activity research:
 
1. The IWRC will center Indigenous peoples’ knowledges, sovereignty, and self-determination within physical activity and behavioral nutrition research and elevate the voices of Indigenous Knowledge Carriers within these spaces.
a. We will support the next generation of Indigenous scholars by creating a sacred space for Indigenous scholars and trainees to be seen and valued as human beings.
 
2. From an Indigenous perspective, physical activity, nutrition, and wellbeing are the expression of our relationships to our territories and environments, and so the IWRC examines nutrition, physical activity and wellbeing wholistically (balancing physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions within human beings) and examines ways to support reciprocal relationships with the land and all aspects of creation.
 
Further, our group highlights that:
a. Indigenous ceremonies, languages and spirituality are essential for wellbeing, and
b. Supporting the wellbeing of future generations of Indigenous youth and children are vital focus areas.
 
The IWRC adds an important topic area for the international society and offers the society an opportunity to Indigenize knowledge production within academic spaces through this Indigenous-led group. This group will also contribute to identifying Indigenous leadership for land acknowledgements to open the ISBNPA conference and organizing these land
acknowledgements in a culturally safe way.
Through these focus areas, the IWRC will stimulate and promote innovative and impactful research connecting behavioral nutrition, physical activity, human and planetary health, and wellbeing, thus supporting the ISBNPA mission and vision.
 

Leadership

The Circle will be co-led by Speakers* Drs. Brittany Wenniserí:iostha Jock and Robert Hogg, who are Indigenous scholars and ISBNPA members. Drs. Jock and Hogg will work with Indigenous knowledge carriers to facilitate consensus-based approaches for discussion and decision-making that center Indigenous knowledges.
*We purposefully use the leadership title Speaker (as voices that represent the voice of IWRC) rather than Chair to highlight our distinct knowledges and perspectives of leadership within Indigenous societies.


Brittany Wenniserí:iostha Jock, PhD (Kanien’kehà:ka / Mohawk Nation)
Assistant Professor
Department of Family Medicine
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
McGill University

Robert Hogg, MEdL
Associate Dean Māori Advancement
Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences
Associate Head of School
Māori Advancement Sport & Recreation
Auckland University of Technology